Safety-razor.



W. J. MYATT.

SAFETY RAZOR.

APPLICATION FILED IuIIE Iz. 1912.

W. J. MYATT. I

SAFETY RAZOR.

APPLICATION FILED luNE lz. |912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Imaan/01 WJ/@mmf Lama? 'Tww WILLIAM JAMES MYATT, 0F BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND.

SAFETY-Razon.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 11, 1915.

Application led .Tune 17, 1912. Serial No. 704,001.

T0 all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I,- WILLLAM JAMEs .Mrt-rrr, a subject of His Majesty the King of England, and residing at Birmingham, in England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in or Relating to Safety-Razors, of which the following is a specification.

This invention pertains to improvements in or relating to safety razors particularly of the type in which the bladeis movable to lie in alinement or substantial alinement with the handle for the purpose of stropping and cleaning the same, and the guard is movable so as to fold down toward or against the handle to admit of said stropping and cleaning.

The objects of my invention are three fold. .Firstly the construction of a safety razor with `a movable blade and guard such that not only is the blade supported or held vin position by the guard when in the shaving position but the guard also acts to hold it substantially in alinement with the handle vfor the purpose of sharpening the blade.

In the hereinafter described embodiment a tooth on the guard which forms a tailpiece thereof co-acts with the blade holder for holding the Vsame in Substantial alinement with the handle, such tail-piece resisting pressure exerted by the blade tending to move the guard toward the shaving position, While movement in the other direction is resisted by the frame or rigid parts of the razor.

The second object is to provide means whereby the movement of the guard or blade from the shaving to the stropping po` sition or vice versa is accompanied by a simultaneous movement of the other part to the appropriate position.

The third object is the provision of special means preferably actuated by a spring for holding or assisting in holding thepart-s in the desired position, which means may also move or assist in moving the blade from one position to another.

A safety razor embodying the present improvements in a form which works well is illustrated in the accompanying drawings. ln the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of a razor constructedI according to this invention. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same partly in section. F ig. 3 is a central transverse section, illustrating the blade in its opened position to admitof stropping and cleaning. Fig. 4'

is a front elevation of the razor opened as shown by ig. 3. Fig. 5 is a corresponding View to Fig. 4, but showing a rear view. Fig. 6 illustrates the manner of stropping the blade while connected to the razor, and, Fig. 7 is a section through the guard on line no4-w* 0f Fig. 4.

The present improvements are particularly adapted for use in a razor in which the blade 1s turned to lie in the central plane of the razor (as shown by Fig. 3) to provide for the cleaning of the razor and the stropping of the blade without detachng the same from the razor frame. According to such an embodiment a blade holder l, of any suitable construction adapted to retain the blade 2 therein while stropping, is pivotally mounted between the upper extremities of thelimbs 3 of a U-shaped frame or yoke 3, toothed members 4 being secured in this preferred embodiment to the holder at the ends thereof adjacent to said limbs. Be-

neath the hol-der is pivoted the guard 5, A

frame within which apertures these pins rotate.

The guard 5 is in the arrangement shown normally pressed into its operative position for shaving, and consequently also the blade holder l by virtue of the toothed gearing 4, 6 by means of a spring device. According to a preferable form of such a devicea bifurcated projection 9 is provided on the guard 5 at a distance forward of the pivot axis thereof, and this projection is connected by a link l0 to a spring controlled plunger or slide 11 which as shown is located within the tubular handle 14 which is secured to the bottom of the frame 3a, the parts being illustrated as so arranged that when the guard is in either the operative position for shaving as shown by Figs. 1 and 2 or the inoperative position as for stropping as shown by Figs. 3, 4 and 5, such guard is normally maintained in that position by virtue of the pivot axis of the aforesaid projection 9 and the link 10 lying in the case of the first mentioned position forward of the pivot aXis of the guard, or in the case of the second mentioned position rearward of the said pivot axis. The han dle 14 is connected to the frame 3a in any suitable manner and conveniently through the mediumof the thimble piece 22 which passes through an aperture in said frame 3a and is screw-threaded to engage with the internally threaded upper end of the handle 14. The said thimble piece also forms a guide for the plunger 11.

The guard and blade are adjusted so that when closed together they are in operative position for shaving, and the ratio of the toothed members 4 and 6 are such that when the guard has been moved down against the frame 3zt of the razor,

the blade lies in alinement or in substantial alinement with the handle 14. As

jects beyond the cutting edge of the blade 2, it is convenient to move the guard and blade into the operative position for stropping, to press the guard downward by the thumb being placed on the aforesaid projecting part of the guard. The guard thus moved downward is pressed by the spring aforesaid against the U-shaped frame 3 as shownin Fig. 3. lVhen so placed the blade cannot rotate in the direction away from the guard, therefore, when stropping the razor by drawing the same over a horizontally or similarly supported strop, as shown in Fig. 6, a considerable amount of pressure may be applied to the blade without rotating the holder 2 in the razor frame. When stropping the reverse side of the blade by pressing upon the guard 5, when stropping in the said manner, the blade will again be prevented from turning in the razor frame as the pressure applied to the guard 5 will be such as to prevent rotation of the blade holder. The razor is preferably so designed that when the blade and guard are in the position for stropping the tip of the blade and the part of the razor .projecting farthest on either side thereof lie in the plane of the bevel of the cutting edge of the blade to thereby facilitate stropping. To move the guard and blade into shaving position, pressure may be applied to the aforesaid bifurcated projection 9 which when the guard lies down against the razor frame projects rearwardly.

'The guard is adapted to protect the user from injury by the corners of the blade, and for this purpose upstanding lugs 23 may be provided on the corners of the guard 5 behind which the corners of the blade are adapted to be located. While in order that the cutting edge of the blade may be at the required distance from the guard, raised portions 24 are formed thereon upon which the blade rests, such raisedy portions conveniently taking the form of pins (see Fig. 7) screwed through the guard and preferably riveted over at their lower end.

In the illustrated arrangement the pivot pin of the said bifurcated projection 9 on the guard 5 sweeps through an arc of a circle and is adapted to lie on one side of the axis of the plunger 11 when the guard is in the shaving position, and to lie an equal distance on the other side of the said axis when the guard is turned down into the in- 'operative position. Thus when the guard 5 is moved downward against the frame 3a the aforesaid spring pressed plunger 11 is rst moved downward and then receives an equivalent upward movement, whereby the plunger' assumes the saine position for both eXtreme positions of the guard, a corresponding movement taking place when the guard is'moved back into the operative position for shaving. In this embodiment to lock the guard and blade in either the operative position for shaving or the inoperative position, as when stropping, downward movement of the plunger or slide is prevented, and according to a convenient means of effecting this as shown a rod 13 is axially slidably mounted within the handle 14 so that it may be brought to bear against the underside of the plunger or slide 11. The said rod has conveniently secured to its lower end a cap 15 which is a sliding fit over the lower end of the tubular handle 14, and to effect the axial movement of the rod an inclined slot 16 is formed in the wall of the handle 14 with which engages a pin 17 or screw secured to the cylindrical wall of said cap 15 so that by rotating the cap, which may have a mill surface, the pin 17 or screw rides up the inclined slot 16 and moves the rod 13 against the plunger or slide 11 aforesaid, whether the guard 5 and blade 2 are closed together or opened. Preferably a collar 18 is formed at an intermediate point on the said rod 13 to form the lower abutment for the spring 19 controlling the plunger or slide 11 and also to form a guide for the said rod 13, and a depression 2O may be formed in the lower side of the slot 1G at the lower end there of into which the pin 17 is pressed by the spring 19 aforesaid, to thereby prevent accidental movement of the rod, and a dtpression 21 may-be formed at the other end of the slot for a similar purpose.

lNhen the guard and blade have been turned into the stropping position and the rod 13 aforesaid moved against the plunger 11, the blade is positively locked from any movement thereby still further facilitating the stropping thereof in the manner illustrated by Fig. 6 as the blade may be applied to the strop with the desired amount of pressure without liability of the blade holder turning upon its pivot, while also y l cla-'im` and desire to secure by Letters Patent is :--A y v 1. A safety razor including in combination, a handle, a movable guard andI a movable blade carried thereby, and coperating means connecting said guard and blade whereby the movement of the guardv or blade from the shaving to the stropping position or vice versa is accompanied by a simultaneous movement of the other part to the a propriate position.

2. E. safety razor including in combination, a handle, a frame, a guard and blade rotatably mounted in said frame, and means connecting the guard and blade so that by rotating one of the latter the other is simultaneously rotated in the reverse direction.

3'. A. safety razor including in combina tion, a frame, a guard and blade rotatably mounted therein, a toothed member on the guard and a toothed member secured in vrelation to the, blade and in gear with the first mentioned toothed member whereby the guard and blade are simultaneously rotated toward and away from one another by movement of either.

4. A safety razor including in combination a handle, a frame, a guard and blade rotatably mounted in such frame and means connecting the guard and blade s o that-by rotating one of the latter, the other is simultaneously rotated in lthe reverse direction toa dierent angular extent.

5. A safety razor having a handle, a blade movable into alinement or substantial alinement with the handle for the purpose of strop'ping and cleaning, a guard movable to admit of said s tropping and cleaning, means comprising a spring thrust or pressure control directly effective on the guard to hold the same inthe shaving osition, and connecting means between the blade and the guard whereby said spring control is indi- -rectly effective upon the blade to also hold the same in the shaving position, and means independent of the .spring of said pressure arrangement whereby the blade may be positively held againstl substantial move-v means positively locking the guard and blade in such closed and opened positions independently of and without interfering with the action of the said spring.

7. A safety razor including in combination, a frame, a blade rotatably mounted in such frame and having secured in relation thereto a toothed member, a guard also rotatably mounted in said frame and having a toothed member .in gear with the first meni tioned toothed member the disposition of the various parts of the razor being such that the guard is adapted to be moved down against the frame of the razor while the blade is simultaneously moved upward in alinement with the handle. 4

8. A safety razor including in combination a handle, a guard and a blade holder carried thereby, means whereby the blade may be moved into alinement with the handle and the guard down toward such handle and means whereby the blade holder and guard engage one another so that by positively locking one of the rotatably mounted members in the opened position the other is also positively locked in the opened position. y

9. A safety razor including in combination, a frame, a blade, a guard rotatably mounted in suchframe to move relatively to the blade and a cylindrical spiral spring located in the handle of the razor and operating upon the guard in such manner that the guard is normally retained in either the shaving position or out of shaving position against the razor structure to allow the stropping of the blade.

10. A safety razor including in combination a frame, a blade holder and a guard rotatably mounted in such frame, toothed members connecting the guard and blade holder so that they may be simultaneously rotated toward or away from one another and a spring located in the handle of the razor and operating upon the guard in such manner that the guard is normally-retained in either the shaving, or out of' shaving position.

` l1. A safety razor including in combination a tubular handle, a frame, a blade,-a

guard rotatably mounted within the saidframe, a spring pressed plunger located Within the tubular handle, and a link` connecting the spring pressed plunger and the ard. 12, A. safety razor including in combinallt? ilse

tion, a'U-shaped frame having an aperture therein, a blade, a guard rotatably mounted within the said frame, a ferrule passed through the aperture in said frame, such ferrule having a shoulder which bears on the upper surface of the frame andhaving an exteriorly yscrew threaded surface, a handle screwed into such furrule' a spring pressed plunger slidingly mounted within the ferrule, and a link connecting the spring pressed plunger and a bifurcated projection on the guard forward of the pivot axis thereof.

i3. A safety razor including in combination a tubular handle, a blade holder, a pivoted guard, a spring pressed plunger located within the tubular handle of the razor, a link connecting the plunger and the guard so that when the guard is moved either from the shaving or out of shaving position the plunger has I'a downward movement imparted thereto, and an abutment adapted to move against the underside of the plunger.

14. A safety'razor including in combination a handle, a blade holder, a pivoted guard, a spring pressed plunger located Iwithin the handle, a link connecting the plunger and the guard so that when the guard'is moved either from the shaving 7 "or out of shaving position the plunger has a downward movement imparted thereto, and an abutment adapted to move against the underside of the plunger comprising a rod having a pin and slot connection with the -handle by which it can be moved axially. 15. A safety razor including in combination a handle, a blade holder, apivoted guard, a spring pressed plunger located within the handle of thek razor, a link connecting the 40 plunger and the guard so that when the guardis moved either from the shaving or out of shaving position the plunger has a downward movement rimparted thereto, a spiral spring, and an abutment adapted to be moved against the underside of the plunger,vcomp rising a rod having a worm connection with the handle by which it can be-moved axially and a collar on said rod forming the lower abutment for the spiral spring which bears at its upper end on the said spring pressed plunger.

16. A safety razor including in combination a handle, a frame, a guard and a blade holder rotatably mounted in such frame, means connecting the guard and blade holder so that they are simultaneously movable toward and away from one another, a spring pressed plunger located within the handle of the razor, a link connecting the plunger and the guard so that when' the guard is moved 60 either from the shaving or out of shaving position the plunger has a downward movement imparted thereto, and an abutment adapted to move against the underside of the plunger.

"17. A safety razor including in combination a handle, a frame, a bladeholder and guard rotatably mounted in such frame, means connecting the guard and blade holder so that they may be simultaneously rotated toward and from one another, a spring pressed plunger located within the handle and connected to the guard so that the guard and blade are normally retained either in the shaving or out of shaving positions,

.. and an abutment coperating with the said plunger for locking the guard and blade holder in either of the said positions.

18. A safety razor having a blade movable into shaving and into sti'opping po- 80 sitions and a movable guard, and coperating means connecting said blade and guard whereby either part is locked if the othel` is prevented from movement.

WILLAM J AMES MYATT.

Witnesses:

ERNEST HERBERT COOPER, HENRY CONRAD Huron. 

